CHAPTER 107: CHAPTER 107; SHE’S IN HER ROOM

"She’s in her room. Liang Chen will take you."

Dr. Lin adjusted the strap of his satchel and gave a respectful nod. "With your permission, then."

As the doctor turned to follow Liang Chen, Shen Xiao remained rooted in place, staring at the spot where the sunlight spilled across the floor. He wasn’t sure what disturbed him more, that Yueyao might be losing her mind.

Or that she wasn’t.

And that meant someone, somewhere, had taken something from her.

And he hadn’t stopped it.

Shen Xiao stepped into the long corridor, letting the silence press in.

He didn’t go to Yueyao. Not now. Not while the doctor was with her. Instead, he walked into the study and shut the door behind him.

The familiar scent of cedar and ink greeted him, but it no longer brought comfort.

He crossed the room and sat heavily at the edge of the leather chair, elbows resting on his knees, fingers laced tightly together.

A daughter?

The thought wouldn’t leave him.

If Yueyao had been pregnant again, if someone had taken the child, hidden it, erased it, then what they were calling madness might be grief misunderstood. Or worse, grief silenced. But he doesn’t recall seeing her pregnant, they have been using family planning pills.

He didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Only that something was very, very wrong.

He looked around the study room, eyes catching the drawer where he kept the old files. His jaw clenched.

If no one would give him the truth, he would have to unearth it himself.

No matter what it costs.

Shen Xiao opened the drawer with a quiet scrape, his fingers pausing over the neatly labeled folders.

He pulled out the one marked with her name.

Yueyao.

He laid it flat on the desk and opened it.

Page after page, it had test results, doctor’s notes, routine medical entries, all printed in neat, clinical lines.

The file had her lab work and all the checkups before they even got married. Apart from minor injuries from childhood, nothing seemed unusual.

His eyes scanned faster.

Still nothing.

No flagged notes. No red stamps. No confidential addendums.

Just the dull, predictable record of an ordinary girl.

He picked another file.

The same.

And another.

Still nothing.

The more he read, the more the silence in the room pressed in.

Finally, he leaned back in his chair, the folder still open in his lap, eyes fixed on the unremarkable lines of ink as if willing them to shift, to reveal what they were hiding.

But they didn’t.

They were just words.

Just... normal.

Everything looked normal..

His eyes lingered on the last page, unmoving, as if waiting for something to jump out and scream the truth at him.

Nothing did.

With a sharp exhale, he closed the file and set it back in the drawer, slower this time. His movements were precise, controlled, but the tight line of his jaw betrayed the storm brewing beneath the surface.

He pushed the drawer shut.

The soft click echoed louder than it should have in the stillness.

Shen Xiao leaned back in his chair once more, staring up at the ceiling, the weight of unanswered questions pressing against his ribs.

Something wasn’t right.

And if the files refused to speak....

Then he would have to find someone who would.

The grandfather clock ticked with irritating precision.

Shen Xiao sat alone behind his massive mahogany desk, the dim light from the desk lamp casting sharp lines across his face. The top buttons of his shirt were undone. There was a glass of untouched whiskey by his hand, neat, still, and ignored.

He leaned back in his leather chair, one hand resting over his lips, the other tapping rhythmically on the armrest.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

— — — — — — —

Dr Lin and Liang Chen got over to the private room.

The door opened with a quiet creak.

Inside, the atmosphere was heavy with fading light.

Yueyao lay on the bed, her thin frame half-sunken into the silk bedding. Her eyes were open but unfocused, staring past the canopy as if watching something only she could see. One hand clutched the edge of the blanket loosely, the other resting limply at her side.

Two maids sat nearby, one wringing a damp cloth in a basin, the other keeping a silent watch. Both turned their heads at the soft knock and straightened immediately as the visitor stepped in.

Dr. Lin Zhiyuan entered quietly, his steps deliberate and unhurried. He glanced at the maids, then at the woman in bed.

"Miss Yueyao," he greeted gently. "I’m Dr. Lin. Shen Xiao asked me to check on you. How are you feeling today?"

Yueyao didn’t move and neither respond. Her eyes fluttered but never quite focused. The maid holding the cloth stepped forward hesitantly, whispering, "she hasn’t said much apart from asking for her baby, and only murmured in her sleep."

Dr. Lin nodded slightly, then approached the bed with care, keeping his tone steady and low.

"It’s getting late," he said softly, almost as if speaking to a child and he was coaxing her. "But I thought you might like someone to talk to. No pressure. I’m just here to listen to you, you can tell me anything, just anything you have in mind.."

For a moment, Yueyao remained still, her chest rising and falling in slow, shallow breaths.

Then she blinked, once, slowly. Her lips parted just slightly, and in a hoarse whisper, barely audible:

"They think I’m insane."

Dr. Lin sat in the nearby chair, the chandelier light gilding the sharp frames of his glasses. He didn’t react strongly. Didn’t correct her, just watched her quietly.

"Do you believe that too? Do you think you are insane.." he asked gently.

Yueyao’s mouth twisted into something between a grimace and a smile. "No. I believe I remember things... that were stolen from me."

He exchanged a glance with one of the maids, worried, uncertain, then turned back to her.

"Tell me about them."